Lewis said he has support at his school, but that the veto shows such support goes beyond his friends. The governor initially offered a positive reaction to the proposal, but said he needed to research the issue and listen to testimony before making a final decision. “It’s sensible, South Dakota common sense”, Dale Bartscher, spokesman of Family Heritage Alliance Action, said last month in a statement issued before the governor’s veto.
Advertisement
Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard has vetoed a bill that would require trans students to use the bathrooms of their assigned gender.
If approved, South Dakota would have been the first to pass such legislation formally restricting transgendered students’ bathroom and locker room use, although other school districts have posed such restrictions without legislation in the past. Had it been passed, HB 1008 would have set precedent for such anti-transgender measures and opened up the possibility of other states pursuing similar legislation. The HRC is now fighting another discriminatory bill in South Dakota that would allow recipients of taxpayer funds to discriminate against not only transgender people, but also same-sex couples and single mothers.
Opponents said the legislation was an attack on vulnerable transgender students that would further marginalize them at school. However, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Fred Deutsch, is asking his fellow lawmakers not to override the veto.
The bill also dictated that a school district face no “undue hardship” under any new requirement, like being forced to build (and pay for) separate restrooms for transgender students.
South Dakota would have been the first state to allow such a law.
Having previously said that he had never met a transgender person, Gov. Daugaard sat down with transgender rights advocates last week who said they hoped to persuade him to use his veto authority.
“I don’t think I’d want my 16-year-old boy in the bathroom with a transgender student if that student had a radically different look, like someone who changed from a girl to a boy and might have a beard now”, the father said. “Accommodation for students who are transgender”, he told reporters.
Advertisement
Terry Eckstaine, superintendent of Ethan School District, said the governor’s decision could help the district avoid legal battles in the future if a transgender student felt discriminated against. Students would be required to submit a request to school officials for a “reasonable accommodation” if they’re uncomfortable using facilities that correspond with their birth gender.
